I jumped at the chance to read Ellis Blackwood’s The Brampton Witch Murders, A Samuel Pepys Mystery, and I’m so glad I did.
In a brilliant series debut, we find the famed diarist’s personal inquisitors, Abigail Harcourt and Jacob Standish, tasked with proving the innocence of Samuel’s younger sister, Paulina Pepys, accused as a witch by the son of the late Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins.
My excitement never waned as the book is perfectly paced, plotted, and artfully set. Blackwood does an amazing job painting the world of 1666 England, where the flames of what would become the Great Fire of London had just ignited the bakery on Pudding Street, in the city that just the year before had been besieged by plague.
For a setting almost 400 years ago, Blackwood’s narrative flows naturally, his detailed description is subtle, never forced. With his richly drawn characters, supporting and otherwise, their back-stories and humor, it was a most enjoyable read, not to mention a satisfying mystery with clues and suspects aplenty.
I especially loved getting to know housemaid turned inquisitor Abigail, her cleverness, strength and determination in finding the truth and seeing justice done despite it not being given to her family, years earlier.
I highly recommend The Brampton Witch Murders for anyone interested in puritan-era witch trials, historical fiction readers, as well as fans of cozy mysteries. I can’t wait to see what Blackwood has in store for us in future installments of the series to be published in the coming months.
I received this advanced reader copy of The Brampton Witch Murders from Vintage Mystery Press, courtesy of the author. Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.
Note: Having been a bit familiar with Pepys, his diary entries from 1665 woven into the narrative of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated The Great Plague by Dorothy and Lloyd Moot (for which I was privileged to host a C-Span BookTV episode) I was quite intrigued to read mysteries inspired by the diarist and bon vivant. After finishing The Brampton Witch Murders, I found myself going down a rabbit hole of sorts, trying to learn whether characters were real or fictional. In my queries, I was delighted to find that not only The Diary of Samuel Pepys is available online but the self-appointed Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins’ The Discovery of Witches, as well.
In a brilliant series debut, we find the famed diarist’s personal inquisitors, Abigail Harcourt and Jacob Standish, tasked with proving the innocence of Samuel’s younger sister, Paulina Pepys, accused as a witch by the son of the late Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins.
My excitement never waned as the book is perfectly paced, plotted, and artfully set. Blackwood does an amazing job painting the world of 1666 England, where the flames of what would become the Great Fire of London had just ignited the bakery on Pudding Street, in the city that just the year before had been besieged by plague.
For a setting almost 400 years ago, Blackwood’s narrative flows naturally, his detailed description is subtle, never forced. With his richly drawn characters, supporting and otherwise, their back-stories and humor, it was a most enjoyable read, not to mention a satisfying mystery with clues and suspects aplenty.
I especially loved getting to know housemaid turned inquisitor Abigail, her cleverness, strength and determination in finding the truth and seeing justice done despite it not being given to her family, years earlier.
I highly recommend The Brampton Witch Murders for anyone interested in puritan-era witch trials, historical fiction readers, as well as fans of cozy mysteries. I can’t wait to see what Blackwood has in store for us in future installments of the series to be published in the coming months.
I received this advanced reader copy of The Brampton Witch Murders from Vintage Mystery Press, courtesy of the author. Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.
Note: Having been a bit familiar with Pepys, his diary entries from 1665 woven into the narrative of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated The Great Plague by Dorothy and Lloyd Moot (for which I was privileged to host a C-Span BookTV episode) I was quite intrigued to read mysteries inspired by the diarist and bon vivant. After finishing The Brampton Witch Murders, I found myself going down a rabbit hole of sorts, trying to learn whether characters were real or fictional. In my queries, I was delighted to find that not only The Diary of Samuel Pepys is available online but the self-appointed Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins’ The Discovery of Witches, as well.
Review by Di Prokop, More Mystery Please